The Depth of Field podcast

This is a rebroadcast of an interview I did with Chris Orwig. It air originally in Dec 2009. In this episode, I speak with Chris, a past instructor at the Brooks Institute of Photography, author and renown portrait photographer about his book Visual Poetry, his approach to teaching students, why we need to “slow down,” and what we can do to become better photographers. Chris is one of the wisest persons I know. The guy has an insatiable thirst for knowledge.

Damien Lovegrove is a treasure trove of both photographic and business knowledge. With years of photographic commercial and wedding work under his belt, this knowledge is all field tested by real life. I feel fortunate that he took an hour out of his busy schedule to share some of this insight with us. To say Damien is easy to talk with would be an understatement. He is flowing with wisdom, ideas, encouragement and more.

Damien is considered by many to be one of the world's most influential contemporary photographers. These days he is best known for creating portraits that make women look amazing. Damien is known for his lighting style picture composition. If you don't believe me check out his website, Lovegrove Photography and you will soon be convinced.

He is also a fellow Fujifilm X-Photographer and ambassador. He has shot exclusively with Fuji cameras since May 2012.

Damien shoots around 1,000 frames a week. He says if he doesn't shoot that much in a week he starts to feel like he is going backwards. Yet, I never got the impression in this conversation that he is driven to the point where he runs over everyone in his way. Generous with his knowledge and experience, he speaks with me about creating what he calls that "big picture equation" that helps a photographer stay afloat financially. We also spoke about developing a style that is uniquely yours and how critical this is to your work. We cover how to take a dream and turn it into a reality and so much, much more.

Check out Damien's work at:

Facebook: facebook.com/damien.lovegrove.1
Twitter: @damienlovegrove
Instagram: @damienlovegrove
Blog: ProPhotoNut.com
Personal Website: Lovegrove Photography

Every year after our workshop in India, Piet Van den Eynde and I spend an hour or so talking about this years new Fujifilm gear. Because we do it in the field it sometimes becomes difficult to find a good location to record these discussions. It is India after all, things are noisy. One year we even made a tent out of blankets and recorded the show under it. Not to worry, this years was a breeze. Piet and I only had to deal with noisy bellhops and stray dogs, all of this served as a background to an amazing hour of looking at the latest gear from Fujifilm. For this episode we invited camera geek and photographer Rene Debar, host of the Fuji Xtras blog to help us with our yearly overview.

One of the first topics we discuses is our workshop in India and what we did during the 10 days traveling India. The last couple of years we have been doing more and more off camera flash work. This year, we hosted an exclusive group of alumni workshop participants and we did even more flash work. We brought with us two Jinbei HD600 studio strobe (Available in the USA as the Flashpoint Rovelight RL600 - $399!), three or four Cactus RF60 Wireless Flash with Built-in Wireless Commander and Receiver and even the small Nissin I40FJ Flash for Fuji. So as you can see were were ready to light up India! All this light needed modifying, so we brought the light weight and compact Lastolite 36-Inch Trifold Umbrella and what became our favorite, the SMDV Speedbox Professional 28-inch (70cm) and A110B - Professional 44 inch (110 cm).

In this episode we also spoke about the difference between the detail you get with using off camera flash verses available light. I said I would post an example of one image shot with both flash and available light. view it HERE.

For the complete show notes and photos illustrating the use of off-camera flash visit: http://thedigitaltrekker.com/2016/03/podcast-look-fujifilm-x-pro2/

 

Links:

Lights:

• Cactus RF60 Wireless Flash with Built-in Wireless Commander and Receiver
• Jinbei HD600 studio strobe (Available in the USA as the Flashpoint Rovelight RL600 - $399!)
• Nissin I40FJ Flash for Fuji

Modifiers:

• SMDV Speedbox Professional 28-inch (70cm) 
• SMDV Speedbox A110B - Professional 44 inch (110 cm)
• Lastolite 36-Inch Trifold Umbrella

Lenses:

• Fujinon XF 10-24mm F4 R OIS
• FUJINON XF 16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR
• Fujinon XF 16mmF1.4 R WR

Cameras:

• Fujifilm X-Pro2 Body
• Fujifilm X-T1 Body

Websites:

• Piet Van den Eynde morethanwords.be
• Rene Debar Fuji Xtras

 

I had the pleasure of working with Dan Carr online many years ago when we wrote for the same photo website. He seemed like a great guy to know then and after this interview I can say for sure he is. Dan is a Brit who has transplanted himself to Canada. He shoots a wide variety of subjects so it’s difficult to peg him into one genre. But he is best known for his adventure and ski photography. Dan also operates a photography educational site called Shutter Muse where he writes about everything from the business aspects of the industry to location guides from around the world. Dan has many informative eBooks at Shutter Muse as well. In this episode we talk about how he started and his journey. Dan is full of great advice and stories that even the newest photographer will find helpful. Follow through these services: Website: dancarrphotography.com Ski Site: theskiphotographer.com Instagram: instagram.com/dancarrphoto Twitter: @dancarrphoto Facebook: facebook.com/dancarrphoto Google+: +DanCarr Photo Muse (eBooks): Shuttermuse.com Note: Did you notice the audio quality of this episode? I am sure you can tell it is much better than any previous episode. That is because I have purchased new mics, a new mixer and am using a service that levels the sound so you don’t hear crazy levels between me and my guest. But all this comes with a cost. One way I hope to offset this cost is by offering premium or bonus material. Want to help keep Depth of Field on the air? Then take advantage of the bonus material offered below. Bonus Content Want to hear more from Dan Carr? Dan gives us an additional 20 minutes on SEO for photographers. Listen to this bonus material for only $1. Yep! 20 minutes of expert advice on how to improve your rankings in Google and other search engines for a buck! Not bad. Check it out http://thedigitaltrekker.com/shop/product/bonus-depth-of-field-dan-carr/. By the way, by purchasing this bonus material you are helping keep Depth of Field on the air.

Piper Mackay represents the dream of so many photographers out there. She was working a successful career and gave it up to follow her new found passion of photography. Her career was in the fashion industry and the area of photography that captivated her was wildlife and later cultural work. In this interview we look at how she did her own, "Great Migration". Piper speaks openly and honestly about her fears and her doubts. Did she make a mistake to follow her passion. Will she make it in the field of wildlife photography when other more experienced photographers she respects tell her she is nuts to enter. Join Piper Mackay and I talk about her journey and her struggles. This will be an encouraging shot in the arm if you are a struggling photographer. It doesn't matter if you are an enthusiast or a professional, there is nuggets in this hour that will make you say, I really can do this!

David Bergman is one of the nicest guys you'd ever meet. He is humble, unassuming and crazy good at what he does. David has 13 Sports Illustrated cover to his credit. He has photographed 6 presidents and numerous big name celebrities. If that wasn't enough he is the personal photographer for Bon Jovi. He is also known for his work with the Gigapan, the pano gear that enabled him to shoot the inauguration of President Obama and that has garnered over 30 million views! In this episode of Depth of Field we speak with David about his work and his views of what it takes to be a success. We talk about what’s the point of what you are shooting or why are you shooting what you shoot? What’s your attitude like? Do people want you around? What’s separates you from all the other photographers out there? Remember, we have a new feed on iTunes and we need your ratings and comments. By rating us you help put us in front of many more listeners. If you want to comment right on the timeline of the podcast, listen in on Soundcloud. Do you have suggestions on who should be a guest on Depth of Field? Great email us at [email protected]. Follow David Bergman’s works: website: davidbergman.net Blog: blog.davidbergman.net Gigapan: davidbergman.net/gigapan Tour Images: tourphotographer.com His Photo Book On Bon Jovi: Work

Timothy Allen is an English photographer and filmmaker best known for his work with isolated cultures and people around the world. He shot into the public light with his work on the BBC documentary series, Human Planet. This show took an unexpected turn during the interview. I had thought we would be talking all about travel and some great adventure stories from the road. Not so much. What we got was some amazing advice on business and marketing from a very successful photographer. This interview is rich! I love doing this show for just this reason. Incredible insight into the life of a working photographer.

Michael D. Davis is the photographer’s friend. Mike Davis is a photo editor. Photo editors are people photographers have a love/hate relationship with. In this interview with Mike Davis you come to see that the photo editor has the photographers best interest at heart. I found my time with Mike to be refreshing. It was one of the most laid-back interviews I have ever done and one of the most significant. Mike’s approach to what makes the perfect photo is almost spiritual. Honestly, this may be one of the most important interviews I’ve ever done. Mike gets down to the essence of what a photograph is about. He feels even the journalistic image that tells a strong story must have more to stand out above the rest. For it to be really special, it needs 5 elements that Mike goes on to share with us.

Kevin Russ, by his own admission likes to take the path of least resistance. This path has taken him from a shooting studio work (on a DSLR), being one of the first photographers with iStock and later becoming one of their inspectors. To now shooting almost exclusively with his iPhone and living out of his car. He sells his images both on iStock as well as society6.com, a social media website that sells prints and kitsch with your images on it. He goes where he want to go, he shoots what he wants to shoot and he lives by his own rules. Kevin Russ is his own man. I caught up with Kevin while he was in California on his way to Arizona. I had read the Atlantic article on him and felt he would add a whole new dimension to this podcast. They called him the “iPhone’s Ansel Adams”. I have interviewed wedding photographers, travel photographers, photojournalists, humanitarian photographers, why not an iPhoneographer? It just so happens that Kevin’s old roommate who introduced him to photography is a guy right here in Penang that I work with when I do video work, Nathan Watkins. So I had Nate put me in touch with Kevin and the rest is… below.

Douglas Kirkland is one of photography’s legends, there’s no other way around it. He’s made a treasure trove full of images of the greatest personality that we saw in the latter part of the 20th century. And by greats I mean the likes of Charlie Chaplin, Mick Jagger, Sting, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rod Steiger, Peter Faulk, Michael Caine, Dr. Stephan Hawking, Morgan Freeman, Orson Welles, Andy Warhol, Oliver Stone, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Leonardo DiCaprio, Meryl Streep, Jack Nicholson, Sean Connery, Coco Chanel, Marlene Dietrich, Peter O’Toole, John Lennon, Brigitte Bardot, Judy Garland, Elizabeth Taylor, Sophia Loren, Catherine Deneuve, Michael Jackson, Diana Ross and of course Marilyn Monroe to name only a few. It’s as if you are not famous without having a Kirkland portrait. I can imagine the Hollywood dinner parties, “Darling, you won the Academy award, how droll. But, have you had your portrait made by Kirkland”? It’s not just the celebs either. If you are a famous photographer who do you go to get your portrait made? Well, Gordan Parks, Arnold Newman, Mary Ellen Marks, Pete Turner and Howard Bingham all went to him. The man’s freaking amazing and I am proud to have had this chance to interview him on Depth of Field. You might imagine a man with this kind of pedigree might come off haughty or stuck up. But if it’s Douglas Kirkland you’d be wrong. My conversation with Kirkland was as personable as if he was my uncle and he was willing to give help and advice like a long time mentor. There’s no question you’ll enjoy this interview with one of photography’s greats.